1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated camera for connecting to the Internet and transmitting images over the Internet.
2. Description of Background Information
As the Internet (i.e., the worldwide inter-network, currently operated under TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) gains more participants and becomes more consumer-oriented, the demand for simplified ways of providing access to various media increases. A large portion of the new participants seek access to the “World Wide Web” (i.e., a hypertext-driven global multimedia system, hereinafter the “Web”). Archives of digital images (photographs and motion video) are now ubiquitous. The demand for real-time or live video, whether motion video or still video, has different requirements, but has also become strong. Needs in entertainment, advertising, education, security, traffic monitoring, weather monitoring, child care monitoring, and surveillance, as well as general consumer usage, have driven the creation of an initial wave of systems able to place a real-time image, or series of images, on the Internet and on the Web.
However, the prior systems are complex and expensive, requiring the use of a general purpose personal computer and a host of peripheral devices to place an image on the Internet or Web, as well as attendance by a qualified operator. The systems are typically large and lack portability.
An example of such a prior system is shown in FIG. 1. A video camera 110 connects to a “frame grabber” peripheral card 112, hosted by the parallel bus 114 of a personal computer 122. The frame grabber card 112 decodes a frame of an analog video signal from the video camera 110 into a digital image, and makes the digital image available to purpose-designed software running on the computer 122. Typically, the purpose-designed software eventually compresses the digital image into main memory using the main microprocessor of the personal computer 122. In order to upload the image to the Internet, the computer 122 requires a serial port 118 and attached modem 120, which are hooked to the public telephone system 124. The personal computer 122 uses further software programs running in main memory, which include at least a modem driver, network transmission protocol (e.g., TCP/IP) driver, a telephone transmission protocol (e.g., PPP: Point-to-Point Protocol) driver, and an file transfer protocol (e.g., FTP: File Transfer Protocol) application, to connect to the modem 120, through the telephone system 124, and to an ISP (Internet Service Provider) 128. Thereafter, the personal computer 122 may upload the compressed image to a shell account available at the ISP 128.
Costs for such a system may run to several thousand dollars. The computer 122 must be on-site, i.e., relatively close to the camera 110, and is large and relatively immobile. Since the system is an assembly of general-purpose components, and the computer 122 is usually dedicated to serving the camera 110, the system has numerous redundant functions and excess capabilities. In particular, multiple microprocessors/controllers, power supplies, and communication lines are necessary to operate the separate parts of the system. Moreover, such systems include many opportunities for error because of the many interfaces and communication links between discrete devices. Such error may occur as difficulties in setup and configuration and incompatibility between devices in operation.
3. Acronyms
The following acronyms and abbreviations are used throughout the specification. For brevity, the definitions are summarized as follows:                xDSL—(generic) Digital Subscriber Line        ATM—Asynchronous Transfer Mode        CCD—Charge Coupled Device        CCTV—Closed Circuit Television        DNS—Domain Naming System, Domain Name Server        ExCA—Exchangeable Card Architecture        FTP—File Transfer Protocol        HTML—Hypertext Markup Language        IrDA—Infrared Data Association        ISA—Industry Standard Architecture        ISDN—Integrated Services Digital Network        ISP—Internet Service Provider        JPEG—Joint Photographic Experts Group        MIME—Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension        NTSC—National Television System Committee        PAL—Phase Alternating Line        PCMCIA—Personal Computer Memory Card International Association        POTS—Plain Old Telephone Service        PPP—Point-to-Point Protocol        SLIP—Serial Link Interface Protocol        SMTP—Simple Mail Transfer Protocol        TCP/IP—Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol        UDP/IP—User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol        URL—Uniform Resource Locator        USB—Universal Serial Bus        